The Village Voice, the nation's largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced that the 56th Annual Obie Awards will take place on Monday, May 16, 2011 at Webster Hall in the East Village (125 East 11th Street). The awards will be co-hosted by S. Epatha Merkerson and David Hyde Pierce.
Set to present at this year's ceremony are: Alec Baldwin, Andrew Rannells, Arian Moayed, Jim Parsons, John Larroquette, Lee Pace, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mamie Gummer, Margaret Colin, Nina Arianda, Patina Miller, Robert Sean Leonard, and Rose Hemmingway.
The Village Voice is proud to welcome two-time Village Voice Obie Award winner and Detroit native S. EPATHA MERKERSON back to the Obies as the co-host of this year's ceremony. She's an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and NAACP Award winner and has earned critical acclaim for her brilliant work in theater, film, and television. During her 16 years on the show Law & Order, for which she won multiple awards for her flawless portrayal of Lieutenant Anita Van Buren, Epatha appeared in more episodes of the series than any other cast member during the show's run.
On stage, Merkerson was last seen on Broadway in Come Back Little Sheba, and she reprised her role for the L.A. production in 2007. Off Broadway, she has mesmerized us with her performances in plays that include Suzan-Lori Parks's F**king A, August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Piano Lesson, the Young Playwrights Festival's production of I'm Not Stupid (Obie Award), The Old Settler, and Cheryl West's play Birdie Blue (Obie Award, Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress, and Drama League Distinguished Performance Award).
She recently completed production on a comedy film, We the Peeples. Her other memorable films include Lackawanna Blues, The Rising Place, Radio, Jersey Girl, Random Hearts, Terminator II: Judgment Day, Jacob's Ladder, Navy Seals, Loose Cannons, Black Snake Moan, Slipstream, The Six Wives of Henry Lefay, and Mother and Child.
And who could be more perfect as a co-host than a valiant and versatile actor who will soon be seen in a film released in May by Magnolia Pictures called The Perfect Host - DAVID HYDE PIERCE.
The Emmy and Tony Award winner made his professional and Broadway debut in 1982, as the waiter in Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy. He went on to create roles in the Off-Broadway productions of Mark O'Donnell's That's It Folks!, Richard Greenberg's The Author's Voice and The Maderati, Zero Positive, and Jules Feiffer's Elliot Loves and The Heidi Chronicles.
In 2005, Hyde Pierce originated the role of Sir Robin in the Broadway production of Monty Python's Spamalot, written by Eric Idle, with music by Idle and John Du Prez. In 2007, he won the Tony Award and earned other nominations for his role as Lieutenant Frank Cioffi in the musical comedy Curtains, before going on to appear in MTC's revival of the 1930s comedy Accent on Youth. Most recently, he appeared in the acclaimed London and Broadway productions of David Hirson's La Bete.
Hyde Pierce's film credits include Bright Lights, Big City, Crossing Delancey, Little Man Tate, Sleepless in Seattle, Wolf, Nixon, Isn't She Great, Wet, Hot, American Summer, Full Frontal, Down With Love, A Bug's Life, Osmosis Jones, Treasure Planet, and the Sundance Film Festival Selection The Perfect Host, which will be released by Magnolia Pictures in 2011.
His television credits include a short but happy stint on Norman Lear's political satire The Powers That Be, and a long but happy stint on Frasier, for which he earned four Emmy Awards and the American Comedy, Television Critics, Viewers for Quality Television, and Screen Actors Guild awards.
At the ceremony, Obie Award winner ANTHONY RAPP, best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in the rock opera Rent, will perform the iconic anthem written by Jonathan Larson, "Seasons of Love," and another song with his band from Rapp's musical Without You.
A writer as well, Anthony wrote a book entitled Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent, about his struggle to balance the demands of life in the theater with his responsibility to his family during his mother's battle with cancer. He adapted the book into a one-man show titled Without You.
Anthony moves aesthetically though several disciplines: stage, film, television, and recording artist. He is best known in theater for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation. In film, he's known for Adventures in Babysitting, School Ties, Dazed and Confused, Man of the Century, David Searching, Road Trip, and A Beautiful Mind, and on television he has appeared on The X-Files, The Beach Boys: An American Family, Kidnapped, and Law & Order: SVU.
For the past 56 years, the Village Voice Obie Awards, founded by Jerry Tallmer in 1956, have honored the best of Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. Structured with informal categories that change annually, the Village Voice Obie Awards recognize persons and productions of excellence. Unlike most theater awards, the Village Voice Obie Awards list no nominations publicly. In the conviction that creativity is not competitive, the judges may give several Obies in each category, and may even invent new categories to reward exceptional artistic merit.
The Voice's chief theater critic, Michael Feingold, who chairs the Obie Awards judges committee again this year, was honored as a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Criticism. The Pulitzer jury recognized Feingold for his engaging, authoritative drama reviews that fuse passion and knowledge as he helps readers understand what makes a play or a performance successful.
His fellow judges are Voice critic Alexis Soloski and four guest judges: critic Hilton Als of The New Yorker; playwright David Henry Hwang, a three-time Obie Award winner for his plays F.O.B., Golden Child, and Yellow Face; director Evan Yionoulis, an Obie Award winner for her production of Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain; and critic Andy Propst, of TheaterMania/AmericanTheaterWeb.com (and a frequent Voice contributor); he is also serving as secretary to the committee.
Many of the most celebrated names in theater, film, and television say their Obie Award was the first major recognition of their professional career. Past winners include such well-known stars as Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Felicity Huffman, Viola Davis, Kevin Kline, Nathan Lane, Tony Kushner, Kathy Bates, James Earl Jones, Edward Norton, and Sigourney Weaver, to name a few.
Because the Obies always strive to recognize artists of exceptional ability early in their careers, the award serves to encourage, support, and in some sense nurture youthful talent. The Obies help shine an important light on theater artists who are breaking new ground or just breaking through in their careers. In addition, the Obies honor those who have given years of service to the theater, with awards for Sustained Excellence and Lifetime Achievement.
Once again, the 2011 Obies will also honor the Off-Broadway theater community by presenting its annual theater grants, announced live at the ceremony.
Tickets for the Village Voice's 56th Annual Obie Awards are $25 and are on sale now through TicketFly at
obies.villagevoice.com. For more information please visit
obies.villagevoice.com.
